What’s so funny about anaphylaxis?

By Veronica LaFemina, Vice President of Communications at Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE)

Growing up in a food allergy family, I lived in a world where people barely knew what a food allergy was, let alone that it could be life-threatening. It wasn’t always easy to explain to my friends that they couldn’t bring candy or snacks with peanuts or tree nuts over to my house, but this rule was always met with curiosity and compliance – not eye-rolling or jokes.

Today, as someone whose work is dedicated to increasing awareness of food allergy as a serious, potentially life-threatening and growing public health issue, I know there is still much work to be done, but I am heartened by the significant progress that’s been made in ensuring people with food allergies are safe and included. From advances in research and improved laws and regulations at the federal and state levels to national education initiatives, grassroots advocacy movements and nationwide news coverage – all of these efforts have contributed to greater awareness, empathy and action in support of the food allergy community.

One area that’s lagging behind, though, is the portrayal of food allergies in movies and television. These mediums are so powerful in tackling tough issues, shaping our cultural conversations, and shedding light on societal trends in ways that make us think, discuss, question and laugh.

But when it comes to food allergies, many movies and television shows are still living in the Dark Ages. In the last week alone, at least three primetime television shows included scenes that made light of food allergies.

All too often, food allergies are played for a cheap laugh – they’re the topic of a prank or the target of a joke. Reactions are portrayed unrealistically and in such a way that could cost characters their lives, and characters who don’t have food allergies are disproportionately depicted as people who are strangely excited at the possibility of sending someone to the hospital. These portrayals are not only untrue and hurtful – they are dangerous.

Some will say that the mere presence of food allergies and anaphylaxis in popular culture is a sign that the disease is gaining ground in the national consciousness. It is, and that is important. It’s also true that there are many different ways to broach a topic and bring attention to it, including using humor appropriately to educate and raise awareness.

But as a society, we can do better. And as a community, we can help by pointing people in the right direction.

In that spirit, for the producers and writers of movies and television shows who are interested in including food allergies in their story lines, I’d encourage you to keep the following in mind:

Food allergies can be life-threatening. The most insidious fact about food allergy is that there is no way to know how severe a reaction will be until it happens – which means that every reaction has the potential to lead to a hospital visit, or worse. Today, without a cure or preventive treatments that can reduce the risk of life-threatening reactions, avoiding the food completely is critical (and much harder than it sounds). A person with a diagnosed food allergy should also be prepared for a severe reaction (anaphylaxis). That means having two epinephrine auto-injectors with them at all times, and knowing how and when to use them (for young children, it’s important for a responsible adult to carry and know how to use the auto-injector). When a severe reaction does occur, the person must be treated immediately with an epinephrine auto-injector and then 911 should be called to transport them to the hospital for further treatment and observation for at least four hours to ensure the symptoms don’t return.A recent episode of a network television sitcom depicted a character self-injecting epinephrine and then remaining at her desk while co-workers laughed about the incident – in the real world, this scene could have ended in tragedy. To treat it so lightly is irresponsible and could be dangerous. If you’re going to show a reaction, then show what it’s really like – not an unrealistic version that downplays the severity and potential consequences.

15 million people in the U.S. have food allergies. That’s enough people to be our fifth largest state. Since this is a common disease, it makes sense to incorporate characters with food allergies into your work. But it doesn’t make sense to play into a stale stereotype. Food allergy is an invisible disease that doesn’t discriminate based on race, geography, economic status or any other factor. It affects a diverse array of adults and children throughout the country, disproportionately affects African Americans, and is a reality for professional athletes, scientists, actors, musicians, and even those who live at the White House. When you determine which character will have a food allergy, it’s important to keep these facts in mind.

Food allergy bullying is real and can have dire consequences. Movies and television have taken on the broad topic of bullying and explored the issue in meaningful and poignant ways. So what makes food allergy bullying different? A third of kids with food allergies have been bullied specifically because of them, and half of those kids didn’t tell their parents about it. Watching popular shows model ways in which to bully kids with food allergies is terrifying – for adults and children alike – and for what? A lame filler laugh? If exploring food allergy bullying is important to the story you are trying to tell, avoid showing exactly what happened and be sure to show the consequences the bully faced. Don’t make bullying look cool or even acceptable. You can learn more about this subject via FARE’s “It’s Not a Joke” campaign to address food allergy bullying.

Approach this topic in the same way you would other life-threatening medical conditions. Humor can be excellent for softening difficult scenarios and supporting the healing process. And food allergy certainly isn’t the only disease that movies and television shows poke fun at. But when you’re writing a scene about food allergies, I’d ask you to consider this – would you make the same joke about cancer, or diabetes, or a heart attack? More often than not, the answer will be no. This isn’t about special treatment – it’s about being evaluated by the same standard.

Next Monday, March 31, the food allergy community will remember those individuals who have lost their lives to anaphylaxis, and this spring, we as a community will be promoting events like World Allergy Week and Food Allergy Awareness Week to help increase understanding of and support for our cause. Despite these tragedies and the need for greater understanding, food allergies still face skepticism in a way that other diseases rarely seem to.

We are at a critical time in the national discourse around food allergies. Movies and television shows are in a unique position to shape the cultural conversation about the disease. My hope is that they will continue to include stories about food allergy – because food allergy does touch all of us, and it needs to be better understood – and that they do so in a more realistic and empathetic way.

Veronica LaFemina is Vice President of Communications at Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE). Her father and younger sister have food allergies. You can learn more about food allergies on FARE’s website – www.foodallergy.org.

10 thoughts on “What’s so funny about anaphylaxis?”

Reblogged this on quirkywritingcorner and commented:
Food allergies are serious business. Often they start out mild, and can either continue with barely noticeable symptoms, or suddenly increase to life-threatening. I plan to use a medical problem in each of my novels. I had not thought of allergies until reading this. I want something really unusual…hmm.

Very good point! Humor can be used, but we need to be very careful how it is used. I think Bored Shorts TV (http://www.allergycookie.com/?p=1211) did a pretty good job this week of depicting what it feels like when explaining a child’s food allergies to a caregiver and even showing what a child’s perception of their allergy might be like, while still using humor to do so. Especially with kids, we need to find ways to not make food allergies too scary and depressing, while at the same time encouraging them to take these life-threatening conditions seriously.

allergycookie

Agreed. Humor can be used, but we need to be very careful about how it is used. Check out what Bored Shorts TV did this week (http://www.allergycookie.com/?p=1211). I think they did a pretty good job of portraying common feelings.

Reblogged this on Cathal's Cookbook Allergy Free Cooking and commented:
This is well worth a read . As a mother of an allergic child I can relate to this!!! Only the other night I was looking at an Irish comedy TV show and it made a joke out of allergies !!! Now!! needless to say myself and my husband did not find it very funny …. But the next a couple of people were talking about how funny it was …. So yes TV has a big part to play in the curving of peoples attitude towards allergies. That’s just my view.
What do you think?????
Marie xx

I think as long as the condition is still referred to as an ‘allergy’, the public will not understand. So much marketing has been aimed at allergy medicines for seasonal allergies that when one hears the word ALLERGY, they typically assume whatever the cause, the reaction will be sneezing, sniffles or at worst, asthma. I’ve started referring to our sons peanut ‘allergy’ as ‘anaphylaxis’.
. I am well aware that not all exposure will result in full anaphylaxis, but people ALWAYS take that word more seriously. Yes, it’s just a question of semantics, but the continued eye rolling we as parents of ANA kids see when the term ‘food allergy’ comes up tells me semantics matter in public perception.

Jackie

I agree with the previous post written by Kristol. So many people have allergies and hay fever and that dilutes the understanding of “allergy” in the context of severe food allergies. And unfortunately I find that not enough people understand or have heard of “anaphylaxis” — so they easily miss the life-threatening aspect of what that means. If ever there was a way to rename “food allergy” and “anaphylaxis” –the right word or phrase could be a huge leap in creating the much needed deep understanding and awareness of the ever-present threat.

LP

As someone who has severe food allergies (since age 3), I’ve learned not to be shy about making the consequences of my medical condition perfectly clear. Be prepared to make statements such as “food X will kill me” to get the point across. When it is a life or death situation, it is OK to be blunt.

Personally, I think that allergy bullying when it is a life threatening allergy should be a criminal charge. If the bullying were physical or employed a weapon, that would be the case.

Jackie

In response to Veronica LaFemina’s blog, is there any place that is documenting all the uninformed, uneducated portrayal of food allergies in movies and television? And beyond that, getting the word to the specific networks and studios about the harm they are doing? My 7 year-old twins suffer severe peanut and treenut allergies. We were watching either “BrainPop”
or “BrainPopJr.” online, which touts itself as an animated educational site for kids and schools. I was happy to see that they had a segment on allergies — getting into what happens when someone suffers from allergies. But I was very surprised and disappointed that they minimized the severity of reactions that food allergies can bring. There was one part where they said that for most people, it’s not serious. And they left it at that. Period. My sons and I couldn’t believe it! We couldn’t believe they didn’t mention anything at all about the seriousness of it. This is the very place where better education and awareness can start — with the young school-aged children who are seeing “nut-free” tables in their cafeterias. And the whole critical learning opportunity was entirely lost. If anything, if any of their classmates were to see that segment, they would think nut-allergies (and other food allergies) are not that serious. It would undermine all the awareness that my sons and I are doing on their own behalf.